We offer free legal advice, information and referrals provided by a licensed attorney.
The Student Legal Clinic is a partner program of Off-Campus Student Services (opens in a new tab)
The mission of the Student Legal Clinic and Off-Campus Student Services is to provide information and resources to support student success.
Both programs share the following goals:
Do you have questions about what happens when you owe a debt? Are you being contacted by a creditor? Have you ever requested a copy of your credit report? This 20 minute presentation provides an introduction to debt collection and credit reports. Check it out if and get some valuable information!
Each year, at the end of spring semester, we review at our data for the past year to see how many students consulted with the Student Legal Clinic and what types of cases they needed help with. We look for trends and use the information we collect from our database and from student surveys to improve the services we provide.
In 2018-19, for the first time since the Student Legal Clinic started operating in fall 2002, more students sought advice about landlord-tenant issues than any other type of case. This included a number of students who met with the Student Legal Clinic to review their lease before signing it -- always a good idea when entering a binding legal contract! As the Appalachian State University student body continues to grow, and a larger number of students live off-campus, we expect lease reviews and other rental issues will continue to be a hot topic for the Student Legal Clinic.
In addition to individual consultations, we work with our partner program Off-Campus Student Services to provide educational presentations and other programs for students living off-campus or preparing to move off-campus. For more information about what the Student Legal Clinic has been up to this past year, check our 2018-19 infographic report. Follow us on Facebook and feel free to email ruschkp@appstate.edu with any questions or comments!
The numbers are in: During 2017-18, 389 Appalachian State students contacted the Student Legal Clinic for help with 442 separate issues, representing a significant increase from the 327 who sought help the previous year. Consultations most frequently involved minor criminal charges, landlord-tenant issues, and traffic tickets. But students also sought advice and information about expungement, family and relationship issues, employment, lawsuits for money, and a host of other issues.
For more information about what we do, check out our 2017-18 Student Legal Clinic Infographic. Questions: Call (828) 262-8284 or email ruschkp@appstate.edu.
Hours:
M-F: 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Call or drop by the office to schedule an appointment.
